Acute and chronic effects of clofibrate and clofibric acid on the enzymes acetylcholinesterase, lactate dehydrogenase and catalase of the mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki

The objective of this study was to investigate both acute and chronic effects of clofibrate and clofibric acid on the enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and catalase (CAT) of the mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki). AChE, commonly used as a biomarker of neurotoxicity, was determined in the total head. LDH, an important enzyme of anaerobic metabolism, was quantified in dorsal muscle, and CAT, enzyme which has been used as indicative parameter of peroxisome proliferation, was determined in the liver. Furthermore, alterations of body and liver weight were also determined, through the calculation of the ratios final body weight/initial body weight, liver weight/final body weight, liver weight/gills weight and liver weight/head weight. Acute exposure of G. holbrooki to both clofibrate and clofibric acid induced a decrease in liver CAT activity, an increase in muscle LDH activity, while no effects were observed on AChE activity. However, chronic exposure did not alter significantly the enzymatic activities, suggesting reduced or null effects over these pathways, relative to effects reported in other species. No effects were observed for the calculated ratios, except a significant weight reduction for males chronically exposed to clofibrate.     

Food and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is by far and away the most disadvantaged of the world's three main developing regions. Worse, its situation has mostly been deteriorating for much of the past several decades. Its agriculture is severely under-productive, and per capita food supplies have been steadily dwindling. Its environments and natural-resource base, characterised by water deficits, soil erosion, fuelwood shortages, rudimentary agro-practices, and grossly inadequate infrastructure, are generally unfavourable for sustainable agriculture. The population has expanded until it far exceeds carrying capacity, yet its growth rate is the highest in the world. The region also suffers from more disease than any other region. There is widespread and deepening poverty. As a result of these and other problems, and despite major food imports, two-thirds of the people are malnourished, one-quarter of whom endure outright hunger, even semi-starvation. Both these proportions appear set to keep on increasing both relatively and absolutely. Were these problems to persist with their decades-long trends, there could eventually arrive a stage when much larger numbers of people would succumb to terminal malnutrition, precipitating a human tragedy of unprecedented proportions. Fortunately, success stories demonstrate that solutions are available, on the part of both governments concerned and international agencies. Because of ignorance, or rather ignore-ance of the potential mortality disaster ahead, however, not nearly enough has been done to address the challenge with the energy and urgency to match its scale.     

江苏省人口产业结构与环境污染的关系研究

对江苏省1990年至2003年人口产业结构及环境污染的指标进行量化分析研究，建立了江苏省人口产业结构与环境污染之间的关系模型，并对影响污染物排放量的人口产业指标进行了分析。     

广州人口、资源与环境相互关系的定量研究

人口、资源、环境是城市和谐发展的三大基本支撑要素。通过计算广州适度人口、验证库兹尼茨曲线、计算生态足迹等，分析了广州人口、资源与环境三者之间的关系。通过分析可以看出，支撑广州城市可持续发展的三大基本要素——人口规模、资源承载力和环境容量基本都已接近峰值，城市发展面临着有史以来的最大压力，而且资源支撑经济社会发展的能力在弱化，但环境总体质量趋向于好转，库兹尼茨曲线正在向其倒U形的右半部分过渡。为实现城市的可持续发展，广州要处理好经济社会发展与人口、资源、环境的关系，更加关注自然资本。     

基于生态敏感性的土地资源承载力研究——以泉州市为例

随着社会经济的发展人地矛盾变得越发突出,已经成为制约城市经济进一步发展的桎梏.泉州市在社会经济快速发展的同时面临着土地资源严重紧缺的问题,亟需对其市域土地承载力进行研究,并用来指导城市的发展,从生态敏感性的视角,通过对泉州市域的生态用地和城建用地的划分,在以保护生态用地为前提的基础上,对其生态用地规模和城市用地规模进行测算,最后分别按照国际和国内两种指标来测算其土地资源承载力.     

‘Natural’ disaster? A retrospect into the causes of the late-2004 typhoon disaster in Eastern Luzon, Philippines

Between 14 November and 4 December 2004, four successive tropical depressions and typhoons lashed the Eastern coast of Luzon in the Philippines. Heavy rainfall triggered massive landslides and devastating flash floods, which brought tremendous damage and killed more than 1600 people. Immediately after the disaster, there was a media and political consensus to incrimate ‘extraordinary’ natural phenomena and widespread deforestation as responsible for the catastrophe. We argue that the tragedy that befell the municipalities of General Nakar, Infanta and Real, among other devastated areas, is enmeshed in a deeper tangle of causal factors that are political, socio-economic and demographic in nature. These factors include unmanaged population growth, difficult access to land and resources, corruption within the government, and power of the elite.     

烟台地区在业人口就业结构分析

根据人口普查资料，本文从行业和职业方面对烟台地区在业人口的就业结构现状及变动特点进行了系统分析，并在此基础上对农业剩余劳动力的转移问题作了深入探讨。     

广州市城市人口郊区化过程及其模式分析

我国正进入城市化的快速发展阶段．城市功能的聚集效应和扩散效应．都市圈化和效区化趋势在一些城市都有表现．因此将二者结合起来．研究我国城市化规律有重要意义。利用1982、1990、2000年三次人口普查中得到的广州市中心区和近郊区各街道、镇的人口密度资料．对广州人口密度分布进行模型研究。结果发现：1982年以来广州市城市人口密度分布呈典型的克拉克分布．即城市中心人口密度最大．随着向外距离的增加，人口密度迅速降低。表现出城市发展早期阶段的特征；与此同时，中心区人口密度先升后降.近郊区人口密度持续上升．远效区人口密度缓慢上升．城市郊区化开始发展。     

Externalities, Floating Population and Spatial Agglomeration

With the further development of socialist market economy, the mobility of factor markets in China, especially the labor market, is strengthened. Externalities interacts with the agglomeration of productive factors. Under the framework of new economic geography, this article presents a theoretical model involving the endogenous population density affected by urban externalities. Results show that the population density is more concentrated around the center because the degree and extent of interaction between individuals intensifies when the distance from the center decreases. When there are several externalities resources, the aggregation of externalities changes the configuration of spatial factor allocation. These results fit well with the empirical facts about the decreasing density of floating population along the cities of Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province which is situated in the eastern coast of the Pearl River Delta. We fred that under the impacts of externalities released from Hong Kong into the coast, floating population was more concentrated around Shenzhen and Dongguan, which are more adjacent to Hong Kong compared with Guangzhou City.     

Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis with Bird Populations as Habitat-Specific Environmental Indicators: Evidence from Canada

Abstract:  The traditional environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis postulates that environmental degradation follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. We tested the EKC hypothesis with bird populations in 5 different habitats as environmental quality indicators. Because birds are considered environmental goods, for them the EKC hypothesis would instead be associated with a U-shaped relationship between bird populations and GDP per capita. In keeping with the literature, we included other variables in the analysis—namely, human population density and time index variables (the latter variable captured the impact of persistent and exogenous climate and/or policy changes on bird populations over time). Using data from 9 Canadian provinces gathered over 37 years, we used a generalized least-squares regression for each bird habitat type, which accounted for the panel structure of the data, the cross-sectional dependence across provinces in the residuals, heteroskedasticity, and fixed- or random-effect specifications of the models. We found evidence that supports the EKC hypothesis for 3 of the 5 bird population habitat types. In addition, the relationship between human population density and the different bird populations varied, which emphasizes the complex nature of the impact that human populations have on the environment. The relationship between the time-index variable and the different bird populations also varied, which indicates there are other persistent and significant influences on bird populations over time. Overall our EKC results were consistent with those found for threatened bird species, indicating that economic prosperity does indeed act to benefit some bird populations.